It's been tried before, but Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley and Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune say this time will be different. They're talking about finding areas where the two governments overlap and could save money by sharing services.

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley promised a lot of action in his first State of the City address Thursday night - less gun violence, a greater emphasis on basic services to the neighborhoods and a reduction in the number of Cincinnati residents living in poverty, among other things.

And, Cranley promised, a city that is even more fun to live in than it is now. He went so far as to say he is appointing an unpaid, volunteer “Commissioner of Fun” for the city.

19 people submitted applications to the search firm, Ralph Andersen and Associates, retained by Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley to help select the next city manager.

WVXU had submitted an open records requests for the information about two months ago. A list with the applicants was provided Thursday, one day after Mayor Cranley announced Baltimore Finance Director Harry Black was his choice for the job.

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley has selected a new city manager. Mayor Cranley’s pick is Harry Black, who has been the finance director for the City of Baltimore since early 2012. Mr. Black also served as Richmond, Virginia’s chief financial officer from 2005 to 2008. Howard Wilkinson sat down with Harry Black to talk about his move to Cincinnati.

Harry E. Black, the finance director in Baltimore, is Mayor John Cranley’s pick to be Cincinnati’s next city manager, according to a source close to the mayor.

"I'm very excited about this,'' Cranley said in a news conference this afternoon in the mayor's office. "Here's a guy who lifted himself up by his own bootstraps in a very tough neighborhood of Baltimore."

As finance director in Baltimore, Cranley said, he guided the city to the first upgrade in the city's credit rating in 10 years.

Mayor John Cranley wants Cincinnati City Council to approve $1.9 million for five bicycling projects in the city.

The largest amount of money, $1.1 million, would go to kick-start the Cincy Bike Share program, while $200,000 would go toward four other bike trails – Wasson Way, the Oasis Corridor, Mill Creek and the Ohio River Trail West.

“We’re on the cusp of being thought of as one of the country’s most bike friendly cities within the next 10 years,’’ Cranley said this morning at a City Hall press conference, where he was surrounded by advocates for all five projects.

Some Cincinnati residents are asking Mayor John Cranley to replace the chairman of Council's Law and Public Safety Committee.

About a dozen people testified Wednesday during the public comment portion of the weekly council meeting. They are upset with comments Christopher Smitherman apparently made about the black community and it leaders protecting criminals.

The mayor of a city can be considered its chief executive officer. But the power that office holds is determined by a city’s rules or charter, which defines what a mayor can, and cannot, do. Cincinnati adopted a “strong mayor” system of government 15 years ago. Now Cincinnati Councilman Christopher Smitherman is exploring another change, to what some call an “executive mayor” system.

Sworn in as mayor just under five months ago, John Cranley fought and lost the streetcar battle, successfully stopped the city’s parking lease agreement, proposed a fix for city’s pension plan and called for Cincinnati to be more immigrant friendly. Mayor Cranley sat down with Jay Hanselman to discuss those and other issues, and the challenges and opportunities he sees in the city’s future.

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley has now selected a firm to lead the search for the next city manager. He said during his weekly press briefing Thursday he met with about seven companies before hiring California-based Ralph Anderson and Associates.

He said a representative of the search firm will be in town next week to meet with city council members.

“And help build out a profile for the search,” Cranley said. “He intends to be out there pounding the pavement looking for candidates at the end of next week or the week after.”

Cincinnati is likely to give $500,000 to the Madcap Puppets for its plan to remodel a Westwood building into a new performance space.

Artistic Director John Lewandowski said the project at the former Bell Telephone Exchange Building on Harrison Avenue will also benefit the community.

“How the arts can lead revitalization in a neighborhood like Westwood and how the arts are a critical part of the fabric of our community that helps keep us together and give us pride in our neighborhood and pride in what we’re doing,” Lewandowski said.

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley said Friday discussions are still taking place on the future of the city's parking system. He announced his plan earlier this week that would keep the city in charge, upgrade all meters and use the additional revenues for basic services.

Cranley said the first step in the process is dropping or revising the previous parking lease agreement with the Greater Cincinnati Port Authority.